Health Update

After a few days of inhalers and being at the doctor every single day this week, Maddox is doing much much better and is WELL on his way to being better, which is great because Mom is tired and getting sick herself. I woke up this morning with a sore throat, so I am hoping he doesn't get this too!

My sister is in town to visit and luckily she has been here to help me through all of this, although I think she gets even more scared than I do when Maddox has a coughing attack. The first time she held him he had one and ended up throwing up all his dinner all over her and out his nose. She freaked out and now is kind of afraid to hold him when he is coughing, which doesn't happen too much anymore.

If you know my past, you know that I have GREAT luck with doctors. Kentucky is no different and it seems Maddox's luck is no different either. The past couple weeks have been one filled with worry and then relief and worry and relieft and STRESS. :)

Story #1 Just a couple days after bringing Maddox home from being hospitalized for a "heart problem," we took him to a post-hospital check up at the pediatrician (which we switched doctors after what the last doctor observed regarding his supposed nonexistent 30 beats per minute heart problem). This doctor weighed him and he had gained 6 oz in two days, up from his birth weight of 8 lb., which was great.

So the next week we went in for Maddox's two week old appointment and they weighed him and said he only weighed 8 lb. 7 oz, which was not enough weight, so they weighed him again and he weighed 7 lb. 9 oz. on that scale! They flipped out and I did too. They said he wasn't gaining weight and I had to wake him up every two hours and feed him and bring him in in two days for another weight check. Well, I have a home health nurse that comes to my house (a free service provided for new mothers through the health department). She is great and I love her. I called her and she came the next morning with her non-digital scale and weighed him and he was actually 8 lb. 12 oz., which they doctors later confirmed when I brought him back in. So much for not thriving! He is a growing baby. Lesson: Never trust digital scales balanced by residents.

Story #2: So Maddox has had RSV. Yesterday, after a clean bill of health from the cardiologist and the pediatrician saying Maddox is well on his way to feeling better and there is no need to bring him in anymore, I go home to check the mail. I normally love checking the mail (minus bills). This time I saw a letter from the state to Maddox Bird. I opened it and read that his blood tests that test for potential deadly genetic diseases came back abnormal and he had to be retested. Yeah, just when I thought we were free and clear and Maddox was for sure healthy, he now may have a genetic disease, so I called the pediatrician, who now knows me by name, and scheduled to come in for lab tests today. I asked the nurse what test came back abnormal and she said for some reason there was one test (with a really strange name and disease) came back inconclusive, which she interpreted as they weren't able to determine if he does or doesn't have it. Whatever...I am assuming with my luck with doctors and lab tests that Maddox is healthy. We will know the results of that test next week...I will keep you posted, although I am pretty sure he is okay.

Story #3 Maddox had his lab tests this morning and while testing for that we noticed his manliness was a bit swollen on one side. So it was back to the doctor this morning. Turns out they don't know what it is and said to watch it. It looks like his circumcision is accumulating fluid on one side and making him a bit crooked. I am going to ask the OB/GYN, who did his circumcision, to look at it next week when I go in for my 6 week check up. Jeff is very concerned. :) Got to love my life!

Knock on wood we don't have to go back to the doctor tomorrow! Really, life is great being a mom and Maddox really is a healthy little boy. He has just had a rough start, but he is super cute and we love him. Here is a video of him smiling for the first time "for real." It was my sister who figured out how to get him to smile and here he is performing his first real trick! Enjoy!